– I wonder how exactly I got into this, Olav Mjelva smiles and looks down. Maybe you’ve heard his name, maybe not. Chances are greater that you have heard the sound of his fiddle. Because it shines when you play the Play station game God of War, or watch the Lord of the Rings TV series. The first collaboration between Bear McCreary and Olav Mjelva was in the Sony PlayStation game God of war. Photo: Santa Monica Studio Olav Mjelva from Røros is a folk musician, with fiddle as his instrument. He plays in folk music groups such as Sver, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc and Lodestar Trio, and has received several Spelemanpris and other awards for his music. Still – it can’t quite be compared to what he has been a part of: the film industry in independent Los Angeles. He was part of the first season of The Lord of the Rings, and now the composer behind the series also wants him in the next one. Invited to LA The composer’s name is Bear McCreary. He is one of the really “hot” names in the environment, and creates music for several major series and games. Bear has heard something unique in the Norwegian Harding fiddle tones. Now he wants Olav to participate in the next season of the series about the rings as well. Mjelva recently made the trip to meet Bear in his habitat: the studio in LA. For the film composer, he wants more Norwegian folk music in his projects. On the walls in the waiting room hang posters of films and video games that Olav and Hardingfela have helped score in the past. Olav’s tone in The Lord of the Rings. The sound is linked to the character Halbrand. The clip is taken from the news TV series Trollstemt, where in the fourth episode you can get to know Olav Mjelva better. Looking for the authentic After a few polite phrases, Bear and Olav quickly start planning the next collaborative project. – The most important thing for me is that folk music is performed by skilled musicians who know their tradition. That is my responsibility and we owe it to the folk music traditions we borrow from, says Bear McCreary. In this way, Bear believes that his music will be recognized correctly by the public, even if it is not actually traditional music that he makes. – Something real is transmitted to viewers through games and series, it will feel right, and without knowing it, many millions have learned something about Norwegian folk music. Are you a Lord of the Rings fan?💍 Yes, I’m a blood fan! Well, I like the films No, nothing special Show results 25 million in the first day In the first season of the TV series The Lord of the Rings, Olav’s harding fiddle reached around one hundred million viewers, according to Amazon. Bear McCreary is excited about what effect it can have that Norwegian folk music is now broadcast to such an enormous audience. In the first day alone, 25 million watched the first two episodes of the first season of The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power. – A narrow genre of folk music has never had such a global spread as now. There are millions of viewers. They may not realize that they have heard Norwegian folk music, but they have it in their minds and hearts, it will have an effect, says Bear. Marte Hedenstad is a film critic and Lord of the Rings fan, and is one of those who think Bear has succeeded in doing just that. – I think Bear McCreary has done a really good job with this soundtrack. It is beautiful, magnificent and very right. Hedenstad thinks it is particularly interesting to see how Bear has used Harding’s fiddle as a tool to build a bridge between the film trilogy and the TV series. – In the TV series, we hear the Harding fiddle as the accompaniment to “Low men”, just as Howard Shore set the tone for the Rohan people in the film trilogy, those in the film trilogy who look a bit Viking-inspired. – This is a universe that has a massive fan base that has followed The Lord of the Rings since the books came out, says Marte Hedenstad in the Film Police. She is a big fan herself. Photo: Henriette Dæhli / news P3 Secret mission Despite several collaborations over the past year, this is the first time Olav has visited the studio. Olav usually sits in the log cabin (which also functions as a studio) say at Os and records with live transmission to the studio in LA. – As a rule, I get a bunch of notes for each session and some key words from Bear, so I often have a producer in Hollywood on my ear. There is much that is secret about the big productions, and once Olav doesn’t always know what context the music should be used in. Watch the news series Trollstemt! Olav Mjelva is chasing the American dream with his fiddle. A meeting in Hollywood changes everything. – In the last project with Bear, I was told that there would be several episodes, so then I realized that it was something more TV-like, smiles Olav. But he hadn’t dared to dream that he and Hardingfela were setting the tone for the world’s most expensive TV series. – There is probably something about the sound of Harding’s fiddle that fits well with epic productions, especially when you have to take people a thousand years back in time, says Olav Mjelva. I couldn’t have done this without your incredible and haunting performances. THANK YOU for being a part of this. Looking forward to doing more.
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Olav Mjelva plays Harding’s fiddle in The Lord of the Rings – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
